rlm@0: I've been dabbling at this little thing for a while now, but only 
rlm@0: today did I get the inspiration to finish it, in part from Spheeris's 
rlm@0: wish list.  So I guess you could say this is a bit of a birthday 
rlm@0: present. :)  Hope it stands well on its own.
rlm@0: 
rlm@0:                        The One You Love Best
rlm@0:                    a Tale of Card Captor Sakura
rlm@0:                       by Star Knight Abraxis
rlm@0: 			abraxis@goldengate.net
rlm@0: 
rlm@0: Disclaimer: The characters don't belong to me, but I'll put them back 
rlm@0: when I'm done with them, okay?
rlm@0: 
rlm@0:       She'd set up a camera, hidden away in one corner of the room, to 
rlm@0: tape all this.  She couldn't trust her hands not to start shaking at 
rlm@0: a moment like this... but she wanted this recorded.  For closure, if 
rlm@0: nothing else.
rlm@0:        "Thanks for having me over, Tomoyo-chan!  I still wanted to 
rlm@0: talk to you about what to do for Shaoran-kun now that he's leaving. 
rlm@0: I'm a little nervous..."
rlm@0:        'You're not the only one, Sakura-chan,' she thought.  "Can we 
rlm@0: talk about that a little later?  There's... there's something I 
rlm@0: wanted to tell you first."
rlm@0:       "Oh?"  Sakura plopped down on Tomoyo's bed, clutching a stuffed 
rlm@0: animal to her in a manner so cute as to set Tomoyo's pulse racing. 
rlm@0: "What is it?"
rlm@0:       Tomoyo took a deep breath, steadying herself.  She knew she 
rlm@0: shouldn't be doing this; it was so horribly selfish... but she had to 
rlm@0: tell Sakura.  Just once, before Sakura went off to Shaoran forever. 
rlm@0: "Sakura-chan...  I love you."
rlm@0:       Sakura smiled brilliantly.  "I know that, Tomoyo-chan!  I love you too!"
rlm@0:       "No!"  Tomoyo cut her off, a bit more sharply than she intended. 
rlm@0: "I... don't mean just like that.  I'm in love with you, Sakura-chan. 
rlm@0: Passionately.  Romantically.  With all my heart."
rlm@0:       Sakura nodded, looking a little confused.  "I know.  Like I 
rlm@0: said, I love you too."
rlm@0:       Tomoyo blinked.  Her mouth went dry.  "Y-you... know?"
rlm@0:       "Well, sure.  I mean, why else would we have been dating for so long?"
rlm@0:       Tomoyo sat down heavily on the bed.  She couldn't quite feel her 
rlm@0: legs anymore.  "D...dating?"
rlm@0:       Now Sakura was looking a little worried.  "All those things 
rlm@0: we've done together, just the two of us, like going to movies or the 
rlm@0: shrine festivals, even catching Clow Cards sometimes.  Well, 
rlm@0: Kero-chan was there too, but he's sort of a chaperone, I guess."  She 
rlm@0: looked at Tomoyo with concern.  "Didn't you think they were romantic 
rlm@0: enough?"
rlm@0:       She had, oh how she had, but she had been sure that was all in 
rlm@0: her own mind.  But for Sakura to feel the same way?
rlm@0:       No.  It was impossible.   "What about Shaoran-kun?"
rlm@0:       Sakura blinked.  "What about him?  I wanted some advice on 
rlm@0: whether I should get him a going-away present or something, but that 
rlm@0: can wait.  Whatever you're worried about is more important."
rlm@0:       "No, it's just... I thought you, well... had a crush on him?"
rlm@0:       "Hoe?"  Sakura shook her head.  "The only person other than you 
rlm@0: I've ever had a crush on was Yukito-san, and that turned out to be 
rlm@0: just because he was Yue and I was attracted to the magic."  She 
rlm@0: blushed a little.  "I don't think I ever thanked you enough for 
rlm@0: putting up with me through all that.  I mean, some of the time, it 
rlm@0: must have seemed like I'd dumped you for him.  But... it wasn't like 
rlm@0: that.  It was just... I think the magic dazzled me, and I couldn't 
rlm@0: think of anything else whenever I saw him."  She looked down, a 
rlm@0: little ashamed.  "I don't know why you didn't just abandon me when I 
rlm@0: did that.  I must have seemed so heartless, and you could do so much 
rlm@0: better than me..."
rlm@0:       Tomoyo jolted slightly at that.  "But there's no one better than 
rlm@0: you, Sakura-chan!"  The words almost came by reflex, so overwhelmed 
rlm@0: was she by the revelation after revelation, but they were of course 
rlm@0: truer than anything she knew.
rlm@0:       Sakura smiled, blushing.  "Thank you, Tomoyo-chan.  That's one 
rlm@0: of the reasons I love you so much.  Because you can always see the 
rlm@0: best in me, even when I can't."
rlm@0:       Now Tomoyo could feel herself blushing, her cheeks warm with 
rlm@0: embarrassment.  'Reasons she loves me.  She loves me.  Sakura-chan 
rlm@0: loves me.'  The words were spinning dizzily around her brain, not 
rlm@0: actually completely sinking in yet.  But oh, how beautiful they 
rlm@0: were...
rlm@0:       "I know I haven't always been the perfect girlfriend, but I hope 
rlm@0: I can always make you happy.  And I want to always be there for you. 
rlm@0: Because you've always been the best part of my life.  You always make 
rlm@0: me feel special. 
rlm@0:       "And because I love you."
rlm@0:       Sakura took Tomoyo's hands in her own, gently.  "Is that what 
rlm@0: you were worried about?  You were thinking I might be falling for 
rlm@0: Shaoran-kun?"
rlm@0:       "Well... maybe a little," Tomoyo breathed dazedly.  'Her skin is 
rlm@0: so soft...'
rlm@0:       Sakura smiled.  "Well, don't worry.  I don't love him.  He's a 
rlm@0: good friend, but he's a boy... and he's not you.  I want to grow up 
rlm@0: with you.  I want to give my first kiss to you, some special night. 
rlm@0: I even want to marry you, if we could, someday.  And someday, when 
rlm@0: we're both old ladies, I want to sit with you watching your tapes of 
rlm@0: us as little kids and laugh at how silly we used to be, and sigh at 
rlm@0: how in love we were even then.  Even now.
rlm@0:       "I want to be with you forever."
rlm@0:       All Tomoyo could see was Sakura's beautiful green eyes, staring 
rlm@0: into hers, full of love.  How had she not seen it before?
rlm@0:       She heard, distantly, her mother's voice shouting from 
rlm@0: downstairs.  "Sakura-chan, your brother's on the phone.  He wants to 
rlm@0: talk to you."
rlm@0:       "Mou..."  Sakura groaned exasperatedly.  "He sure can pick the 
rlm@0: wrong moment.  I'll be right back, Tomoyo-chan."  Sakura drew her 
rlm@0: girlfriend into a quick but close hug, then stood to race out the 
rlm@0: door.
rlm@0:       Slowly, Tomoyo looked around the room.  Her eyes fell on the 
rlm@0: camera, still hidden in the corner, still recording the stunned look 
rlm@0: on her face.
rlm@0:       And to think she'd wanted to see *Sakura's* expression!
rlm@0:       And with that thought, the disbelief left her all in a rush, 
rlm@0: leaving only giddy happiness.  Sakura-chan loved her.  The same way 
rlm@0: Tomoyo loved her back.  She'd loved her for the longest time.  And 
rlm@0: Tomoyo had missed every single hint.
rlm@0:       She flopped back onto the bed, smiling dreamily.  "Hanyaaaan," 
rlm@0: she sighed happily.
rlm@0:       And she'd thought *Sakura* was the clueless one.
rlm@0: 
rlm@0: Author's Notes:
rlm@0:       I've read a few Tomoyo/Sakura fanfics recently, and while many 
rlm@0: of them were quite good, I also noticed a bit of a sameness to a lot 
rlm@0: of them.  Either Tomoyo and Sakura were already a couple, with the 
rlm@0: briefest of explanations, or Sakura found out how Tomoyo felt (often 
rlm@0: through magic), and after a bit of soul-searching, came to 
rlm@0: reciprocate.  Being as perverse by nature as I am, I wondered if 
rlm@0: there wasn't a different way to approach it.  This is the result.
rlm@0:       I won't claim this fits perfectly, or even well, with CCS canon. 
rlm@0: I haven't even seen the whole series or read all the manga at this 
rlm@0: point.  But isn't it a fun idea? :)
rlm@0:       I also have a more serious CCS work in progress, dealing with a 
rlm@0: secret admirer of Tomoyo (and I'm actually drawing her from canon), 
rlm@0: but it's taking a bit longer than this.  Hopefully it'll get done 
rlm@0: sometime in this geological epoch.
rlm@0: